Masquerade (Vampires Realm Romance Series Book 10) (27 page)

He didn’t slow as he traversed the hallway on the first floor and ascended to the second. Only when he was safely locked in his room did he give himself a chance to relax again, but even then it wouldn’t come. His fingers closed around the grip of the dagger, holding it so tightly that his bones ached from the pressure. Tynan’s words and Sophis’s kiss spun around his mind, colliding with what her sire had said and increasing his foul mood. He paced his small room, barely taking two strides before he had to turn back the other way, and toyed with the dagger.

Taking his mind off it all was impossible.

Kissing her had felt so good, and she had responded to it so sweetly, her movements tentative at first but then building in confidence as he fully claimed her mouth. He honestly hadn’t thought that she would recognise him from the kiss. He had hoped he might be able to make her believe that he and the man were two different people, and make her forget about what she had done so she would choose to be with him and he wouldn’t have to confess to something he knew would only make her angry with him.

She hadn’t seemed angry though. It had given him the courage to lay his cards on the table and for one brief moment, she had looked as though she was going to give him the response he desired, and then her sire had walked in. Vivek snarled and then unleashed a roar that had the occupant of the next room squealing. He huffed and reined in his anger again, silently apologising to the young female lieutenant unfortunate enough to have the room next to his.

Vivek turned his dark gaze on his bedroom door. She wasn’t coming. It was probably a good thing.

He frowned when his senses spiked a split-second later and drew a deep breath, trying to catch Sophis’s scent through the closed door. She stood there a few seconds, unmoving. He couldn’t bring himself to move either. What was he supposed to say to her if he answered the door? He was in no mood to speak to her. If he answered the door, he would probably snap at her. That would get him nowhere.

He resumed his pacing and tried to get his mind onto the fight with the hunters, running over everything that had happened and looking for clues. She moved out of the periphery of his senses and he slowed to a halt. His thoughts wandered to her and what her sire had said. He growled again, low and guttural, letting out his anger. It seemed even the simplest of tasks was beyond him now and there was only one cure that would stop him from descending into insanity.

He had to speak to her.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to her and whether he could keep a lid on his temper or what she would say to him, but he had to find her.

Vivek brought his hand down hard, stabbing the point of the dagger deep into the top of his dressing table, crossed the room and yanked the door open. He slammed it behind him and went along the corridor to Sophis’s room. There was no answer when he knocked and he couldn’t sense her on the other side. Where had she gone? To her sire?

Another growl escaped him.

He hoped she hadn’t. That would be the last straw. He didn’t care how old her sire was, he would fight the man if she were with him.

He headed down to the first floor and slowed his steps, using his senses to check each room. He couldn’t feel her sire or her in any of the rooms. Were they somewhere else? He took the stairs down to the ground floor two at a time and strode through the door to his right, into the green reception room.

Several guards were relaxing there, talking about the fight. They stood and saluted when they noticed him. Ella was amongst them.

“Have you seen Sophis?” he said without hesitation and Ella’s face darkened.

“I had thought she was with you.”

He shook his head. “Has no one here seen Sophis?”

When they all replied in the negative, he turned on his heel and stalked onwards to the pale blue drawing room that she favoured. There were Watchmen there discussing tactics with the werewolves and some of the Venia guard. He searched amongst them for Sophis but couldn’t spot her. All of the vampires in the meeting were male. He left before anyone could speak to him, heading to his right and out into the elegant cream corridor. He looked to his left, towards the formal reception rooms where they had held the meeting earlier. She wouldn’t dare enter them alone but with her sire at her side, she might be brave enough to face the lords and ladies who would be relaxing there. He went to the door of the room they had been in earlier and opened it enough to see in. Lady Prophecy lay on one of the couches deep in sleep, her head resting on the folded green jacket belonging to her mate and the black jacket of her lover covering her upper body. Lord Valentine stood close to her head, his watchful green gaze flicking between her and the other occupants of the room. Lord Venturi spoke to Lord Hyperion and the two female Law Keepers. No sign of Sophis.

Vivek turned away, eased the door closed, and stared back along the hall. Where was she?

He frowned as her sire crossed the end of the hallway, heading for the staircase to the first floor. He was alone. If she wasn’t with her sire, then where had she gone after coming to his room? He should have answered the door. Playing hide and seek with her was doing nothing to ease his temper. It was cranking up his tension and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

What if she turned on him when he found her? He didn’t think he could bear the pain. He had been thinking so hard about her since the arrival of Aleksis and Izabella in the city, and last night with her had only cemented his feelings for her.

Vivek reached the bottom of the staircase and thought about heading up again, but his gaze stuck on the closed ballroom doors. He would find her there. She was never one to shun her duties and they were in charge of security for the ball. The lords and ladies had insisted that the masquerade would continue tonight and Sophis would want to ensure that everything was in order again, and that security was tighter than ever.

He hesitated at the doors, his hand hovering over the brass handle of the one on the left, and then pressed down on it. The wooden door swung open to reveal Sophis standing in the middle of the room.

Alone.

She brought her eyes down from the ceiling when he stepped into the room, her dark gaze briefly touching on him before she turned her face to one side. He closed the door behind him and crossed the parquet, his bare feet concealing his steps. She didn’t move as he approached her and didn’t look at him. Her eyes remained downcast.

“I have to know... did you sleep with him?” Vivek swallowed his nerves and stepped up to her.

Her eyes widened and then closed, and relief beat through him when she shook her head, carrying away some of his fear.

He struggled with how to proceed with everything else he needed to ask and his gaze wandered over her. She still wore her training clothes, the black top tight against her body, but her hair was down now, flowing freely around her shoulders. The darkness of it against her skin made her look so pale and faded, worn down, and he reacted on instinct. He reached out, smoothed his knuckles across her soft cheek and then opened his hand and cupped it in his palm.

“Are you feeling alright?” he murmured and she didn’t shy away from his touch. It gave him hope along with the worry he could feel in her. She sighed and closed her eyes, and surprised him by briefly leaning into his touch before moving away.

She started around the large cream room, scrutinising the doors and the windows that lined the far wall above and below the balcony. Vivek followed her, unsure what to say and sensing that she needed time to gather herself. Did she feel as confused and afraid as he did? He was man enough to admit that he needed her, that the thought of her leaving pained him and he wasn’t sure that he could cope without her. She had been in his life for almost one hundred years and in his heart for more than ten of those. He didn’t want her to go.

Vivek stopped dead and raked his fingers through his dark hair. Sophis halted a few metres ahead of him and remained with her back to him.

“Are you leaving... because of me?” he said and she lowered her head.

That gesture stabbed him deep in his heart. It took it as a confirmation that she was.

“I will not let you go.” Vivek took a step forwards and she turned to face him, fire flashing in her eyes.

“Why not? You wanted me off the guard, Vivek, and now you don’t want me to go? What makes you think you have any say in it at all?”

Vivek snarled. “Because I am in love with you!”

Her eyes shot wide, all anger driven away by shock. He hadn’t quite meant it to come out in this way but it was out there now, between them, and she had to respond to it.

She had to.

She blinked several times but said nothing.

“I am sorry, Sophis. I truly am. It was wrong of me. I only wanted to protect you. I never meant to hurt you.” He held his hand out to her but she just stared at it.

Her eyes narrowed.

“Well... you did. Is this what happened to you? Why didn’t you just speak to me about it, Vivek?” She moved a step closer to him and her eyes searched his, the pain surfacing in them like a thousand tiny needles penetrating his heart. “It hurt me so much when you changed after that night. I’ve spent the past ten years thinking you hated me because I almost got you killed.”

“I could never hate you,” he whispered and risked touching her cheek again. She was trembling. He had hurt her, he knew that, and perhaps things between them were beyond repair and there was no turning back the clock. Perhaps he was only being cruel to her now by wanting to keep her here when it would be kinder to let her go. “I understand if you hate me, Sophis, and if you want to leave... I won’t try to stop you.”

She snorted and slapped his hand away from her face, anger sparking in her eyes again. “Make up your mind... you say that you’re in love with me and that you won’t let me go, and then you’re stepping aside without a fight. Aren’t I worth fighting for, Vivek? If you love me, why are you giving up so easily?”

He didn’t have a response to that. Not one that made sense anyway. Wasn’t there a saying about loving something and letting it go? Had he wanted to do that with Sophis? Had he secretly hoped that if he let her leave the mansion, she would realise that she loved him too and would come home to him?

Now it felt as though she was challenging his love for her and she didn’t believe it existed. Well it did, and he would damn well prove it to her.

“You think I don’t want to fight for you, Sophis?” He grabbed her shoulders. “I want to fight for you but I am afraid I have already messed everything up so badly that there isn’t any hope for me now... and if you go away... at least I know you will be safe from the hunters.”

She laughed. Not the reaction he had thought his words would get.

“Your logic is flawed.” She shook her head and then her look softened. “You’re basing it on assumptions. You assume I am going away, when I am not. You assume I want to go away, when I do not. And you assume that I will be safer with my sire and away from here, when I will not.”

She lifted her hand and he shivered when she gently laid it on his cheek, her fingers caressing close to his ear. The cold in her eyes melted to reveal warmth that stole his breath.

“I am safest here, Vivek,” she whispered and placed her other hand on his bare chest, covering the spot over his heart and alleviating the dull ache throbbing there, “with you. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here with you, where I belong.”

She stroked his face, the affection in her eyes warming his heart.

“Why?” It came out as a broken whisper, fear crushing the word in his throat.

Her smile was beautiful.

“Because you’re not the only one in love.”

V
ivek pulled Sophis into his arms and claimed her mouth again, his kiss rough and dominant, his desire for her beyond his control and in charge of his actions. He couldn’t get enough of her, wanted to devour her but feared even that wouldn’t satisfy his hunger. She melted into him, her hands resting on his bare chest. The feel of her body pressing into his sent a spark running through his veins. It set his blood aflame and he burned for her and the way she reacted to him. She was normally so strong but she was leaning on him now, pressed close and wrapped tightly in his arms. She had said she felt safest with him. It felt so strange to have her behave this way, strange to be this close to her with no desire to fight and no harsh words flying between them.

It felt right.

Her hands pushed up his chest, grazed his neck and settled against the nape, holding him to her. He drew her closer, his hands firm against her sides, forearms pressing hard into her back. Her gasps between kisses said that he was holding her too tightly but he couldn’t convince himself to hold her more gently. He feared she would escape him again if he relented even the slightest amount. He didn’t want that. He didn’t want to let her go.

She broke the kiss and buried her head against his chest, her long dark hair like silk against his skin. Her stomach and chest pressed against his with each ragged breath she drew.

Vivek loosened his grip enough that she could lower her arms and slide them under his. She wrapped them around him, the soft play of her hands over his back blissful to him. Her breath skated over his pectoral and he lowered his head, rested his arms gently around her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her hair.

“Forgive me?” he whispered against her and toyed with the strands of her hair, twirling them around his fingers, absorbing how soft everything about her was. “I promise that I have changed and that I won’t try to get you removed from the guard anymore, but I do not think I can guarantee that I will be able to curb my desire to protect you.”

He felt her smile against his chest. She leaned back and looked up at him, and he waited for her to answer him. She did. She tiptoed, pressed her lips against his, and kissed him so softly that he felt he would float away. His insides lightened and flipped, warmed with each soft brush of her mouth over his. The gentleness of it stirred his feelings, luring them to the surface, and he couldn’t stop them. He swept his mouth across hers, losing himself in how good it felt to kiss and be kissed like this. It conveyed her feelings for him, told him that they went beyond lust and passion to love and affection.